Torn Apart
by magicalsvuffxbuttons
Summary: Wakka and Lulu get into a large argument that threatens to pull everyone apart. Lulu reveals a shocking secret and must face the consequence. lukka, tuna, and aurikku


Written by Echo, with a few suggestions from Taylor. The only part of final fantasy X that I own are the case and disk. Please Rate and Review, but please no hate comments!!!! Oh, and dont sue! not that you'd get much... but still! story takes place in November.  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Torn Apart  
As Rikku passed Lulu's and Wakka's home back to her own house, she heard raised voices. Lulu's raised voice, to be exact. Rikku was shocked, and kinda scared. Lulu hardly let her emotions show, and Rikku had never heard her lose control of them. She was still standing there when Lulu screamed, "Fine, I don't even care anymore, Wakka!" burst from the house and ran by Rikku, streams of tears pouring down her face. Rikku stared after Lulu, turned, looked at the house, and started to run after Lulu, deciding that she should hear what happened from her before asking Wakka. Asking Wakka would make Lulu feel betrayed that they felt they couldn't ask her. Rikku was a good sprinter but it wasn't until they had left the town that she caught up.  
"Lulu, wait!" she cried, "Let me help you..."  
Lulu stopped, but didn't turn around, to embarrassed to let anyone see that she was crying.  
"Let's go to Yuna's, then we can all talk, k?"  
Lulu just nodded and let herself be lead back into Besaid village.

When Rikku opened the door to Yuna's house and it collided with the wall.  
"Rikku?! That had better not be you!" Yuna screamed from another room. Last time she had burst in she had interrupted Tidus and Yuna in an intimate moment on the couch and Yuna threatened to kill her if she ever came bursting in again.  
"Not just me! Lulu's here too, and not doing so well so don't come scolding her!" Geez, why does everyone feel like yelling today?  
Lulu, are you ok!?" exclaimed Yuna, feeling awful, it was pretty obvious that the arguing that she and Rikku had done made her cry even harder.  
"Does it look like she's ok?" Rikku asked Yuna under her breath, but Lulu just shook her head and sat down on the couch, her throat closed by her sorrow.  
Rikku and Yuna sat down on the either side of her, in turn giving her a hug and trying to comfort her.  
Eventually, the tears had subsided, and Lulu felt ready to talk.   
She shuddered, reliving that terrible moment in her head.  
"Lulu, you don't have to tell us now, we can wait for another day, if you wish."  
"No, let me continue." so she began her sad story. "As you know, Wakka and I were supposed to be going out on a nice dinner date. He had gone out earlier to play blitzball with Tidus and the rest of the Aurochs, gave me a kiss, and promised he'd be back before we had to leave.

_Where is he?_ Lulu thought bitterly to herself_. He's_ _late again. He's ALWAYS late. _Realizing that she was pacing, Lulu sat herself down on her couch and started tapping her fingers on the arm. She attempted to sit there, but she just couldn't stand it, so she started pacing again.  
Ten minutes went buy, then fifteen, which melded with twenty. By that time, Lulu had stopped watching the clock; knowing how late Wakka was would just make her angrier than she already was. So when she heard laughter outside the door she checked the clock and wanted to either scream or to throw something. Wakka was back, forty minutes late.  
He and Tidus came through the door, still laughing hysterically.  
"I'm glad you can find something funny about being forty minutes late, cause I sure can't."  
"Hey, Brudda, you'll want to go now, ya." Wakka warned Tidus, looking towards Lulu.  
"That would be a good idea." Lulu vocalized.  
Once Tidus had left, she started harassing her husband. "You're forty minutes late."  
"Lu, I know, and I'm really sorry."  
"Wakka, you're always late, always."  
"I said-"  
Lulu interrupted him. "I know what you said! You say that every time and yet you never change anything! If you were really sorry you would have shown up on time!" Lulu snapped irritably.  
"I love you, Lu.  
"Really, cause it seems like I'm putting more into this relationship than you!" Now she was screaming.  
"Well, I can't help that you're so clingy!" he too had raised his voice.  
"I'm CLINGY!" She stepped forward and slapped Wakka across the face.  
"Yea, I need my space." Wakka stated, rubbing his reding cheek, "And whenever I get home, you're always right there!"  
"Thats the only time that I see you because you're always off with Tidus and your other guy friends! We never do anything together anymore!" Wailed Lulu, beginning to cry.  
Wakka heart began to break, he hated to see Lulu cry but he was so mad that the feeling was soon replaced with more anger.   
"You know what? Whatever! It doesn't matter anymore, I don't matter anymore. Fine! I don't even care anymore, Wakka!" With that, she pushed Wakka out of the way and ran out of the room, tears running down her face rapidly.

All the anger came flooding back, then the tears. She was also shaking pretty badly and it took quite awhile to calm her down again.  
"Can I stay with you tonight?" Lulu questioned Yuna, not wanting to go back home, HE was there.  
"Of course you can stay, you can stay as long as need, until you work things out. You will work things out."  
"Thank you, I really hope you're right."  
Tidus came home then.  
"Where have you been?" Yuna asked him.  
"With Wakka, do you know what happened today?" Tidus questioned, oblivious to Lulu's presence.  
"Yea, I do." Lulu announced, standing up. "I'm going for a walk."  
Rikku too got up. "I should be getting home, Auron's probably getting worried about me. He got back from Luca earlier today."  
Rikku and Lulu left Tidus and Yuna alone. "I'll walk you home." Lulu offered.  
Rikku was going to reply that it was ok, but instead she said, "That would be nice, thanks."  
They walked in silence. When they reached her house, Auron was standing on their porch, looking for Rikku. He came down, greeted Lulu, and pulled Rikku next to him. Lulu tried to ignore it, but her eyes dampened when she remembered how Wakka's arm felt around her. After they said goodbye and headed inside (with Rikku giving her many sympathetic glances) Lulu continued her walk.   
Not really sure where to go next, she let her feet carry her. She ended up on the beach but kept walking along the water's edge. When she stopped she thought the area looked familiar, then it hit her like a giant tidal wave. This was where Wakka had purposed to her. Tears prickled her eyes as she looked down at her wedding ring, still on her ring finger of the left hand.

It was a beautiful afternoon, the sun was bathing the small island with warmth, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Wakka and the rest of the Besaid Aurochs had decided to go down to the beach to practice blitz ball, and Wakka convinced Lulu to come along. She had spread out her blanket on a large rock that protruded from the beach pretty far into the water, but it was high enough that the sea spray couldn't reach her. The Aurochs practiced for a few long hours but Lulu was still lying on her stomach facing the sea reading when they had finished. Wakka waited until the rest of the blitz ball team had left the beach before climbing up on the rock and lying beside her. They had been dating for a while, and whenever they were alone he was always near. Lulu acknowledged his presence by giving him a kiss before she returned to her book.  
Wakka leaned close to her face and began whispering in her ear, "Lu, I love you. I've faced death with you once before and would face it a million times more just to be with you. Will you spend the rest of your life with me, as my wife? Lu, will you marry me?" And he presented her with a small engagement ring, with a diamond set in the middle of a thin silver band with tiny sapphires the color of the deep sea adorning the rest of the ring in a line that wrapped around the finger on the band.  
All Lulu could do was stare at Wakka in surprise.  
"I understand if you need time to think about it, It is a big step."  
"No, I know my choice; I want to be with you forever." Lulu murmured before passionately kissing her fiancé.

Lulu returned back to reality once again flooded with emotion. The sun had gone down, the sky was black, the stars twinkling silently in their places. A soft wind had also lifted, blowing long, black, braided hair across her face, causing the beads to clatter together. Reaching up behind her she untied the string to the corset that served as the top half of her dress. Once loosened, the dress slipped off her and landed in a pile around her feet. She then leaned down and removed her boots. Lulu was left standing in her black strapless bra and black boy-shorts. Without warning, she began sprinting towards the rock. She climbed up it and continued running. When she reached the edge she dove in. Lulu's body momentarily went into shock as the icy cold water enveloped her slim frame, yet she swam deeper. The ocean water cleansed Lulu, and she began to go into a calm mode, all her thoughts focused on the moment. Deeper and deeper she went, the pressure threatening to burst her ear-drums. That was the good thing about growing up and being around guys all the time, she could swim forever. Her lungs crying out for air, Lulu resurfaced. She had swam about a forth a mile out and reluctantly turned to start back.  
Standing out of the water, it became apparent that the air was much colder than the ocean from which she had emerged. Wringing out her hair, Lulu walked to her abandoned clothes, sand caking to her feet. Lulu pulled on her heavy black dress, re-laced the back, and readjusted the belts. She decided to carry her boots, her feet were still to sandy to wear shoes. Slowly she trudged back along the beach, making her way back into the village. When Lulu came through Yuna's doorway, she passed unnoticed.  
Yuna and Tidus must already be in bed. Lulu thought as she laid on the couch and pulled the blanket Yuna had left out over herself.  
A few minutes later she was drifting to sleep when she couldn't help but overhear a conversation between the couple in the other room.  
"So you're going to just side with Wakka without hearing her side of the story?"  
"Well, you seem to have done the same, but with Lulu in favor." Tidus argued back.  
"If you listened to her story then you would be convinced that she was at no fault."  
"Not her fault? She practically tackled Wakka when we came through her door. She hadn't confronted him about it before. And how is cheating not her fault?"  
"Cheating?! Who said she was cheating." Lulu was glad that someone was defending her, but she didn't want it to get in the way of her surrogate sister's marriage to Tidus.  
"Wakka. He said that often times when he was trying to check in on her, she would be gone."  
"And that means that she was cheating! No one asked Rikku or I if Lulu came over here, which she did quite often, she got pretty lonely in her house when he wasn't around."  
The couple lay beside each other in their bed in silence, until Yuna broke it. "Tidus, I don't want Lulu and Wakka's marital issues getting in the way of our marriage, so we won't discuss it with each other, and we can help them out, but I think that they need to work things out by themselves."  
"You're right, like always." Tidus replied grudgingly.  
_ So Tidus had sided with Wakka._ Deep down, she knew that he would, for she and Tidus weren't really that close anymore, they really only stayed friends through Wakka and Yuna. But that doesn't mean that it didn't hurt. They had know each other since the start of Yuna's pilgrimage, almost three years ago_. He should know me better than that. How can he believe that I would ever cheat on Wakka!?_ The black mage thought crossly to herself.

She rose early the next morning with every one else. Lulu found that she couldn't look Tidus in the eyes at all during breakfast. After she was finished eating she went out on her usual morning walk and found her thoughts traveling in circles, always returning to the conversation that she had overheard last night_. Why would Wakka just assume that I would cheat? Did I do something that made it seem like I was untrustworthy? Why couldn't he just talk to her about it?_ _Well,_ she sighed to herself _I guess I can't really talk, Tidus was right about one thing, I hadn't confronted Wakka about everything that they had argued about. We weren't really fighting about just that he was late all the time. And it was true, though his constant lateness had set the fire, many things had kindled it, and she really hadn't brought any of her angers forward. It's my fault, if I had just brought things up when they arouse then anger wouldn't have built up, and Wakka and I wouldn't have argued like we had.  
_  
When Lulu returned from her walk she found Rikku and Auron waiting for her. Auron must have found out what had happened between her and Wakka because he was saying how bad he felt. Lulu wasn't in any mood for Auron's sympathy but she listened anyway. They talked about his trip to Luca some then they departed.

Tidus watched as Wakka slammed his fist against the table for the fifth time since he had arrived at Wakka's house.  
"Why is she always mad at me!? Why is it always my fault ya!?"  
"Wakka, you have to calm down." Tidus reasoned, repeating a line that Yuna often said to him.  
"Can you blame me? She's gone half the time I come home anyway! Where could she go anyway?!"  
"You mean you don't know where she goes?"  
"Well, now that I think about it she has been acting strangely ever since Auron came back from his last trip to Guadosalam."  
"What are you saying?" Tidus queried his voice fraught with suspicion.  
"Well, you don't think-I mean, she couldn't! Oh god!" He couldn't finish his own sentence, so instead took his feeling out on the nearest chair, hurling it across the room.  
Tidus had to duck to dodge the flying chair. Taking this as a hint to leave, Tidus slipped out the door and began the slow trek home, leaving Wakka standing in the middle of the floor, panting. He stood there for a minute before deciding to take a walk to calm his nerves. It was the middle of the day, so he definitely wouldn't run into Lulu, the last person that he wanted to see. It all seemed to make sense now. Why she would come home late all giggly, with a dreamy look in her eyes. Now it was clear, she had been with Auron. He fumed as he thought back to the other day, Auron hugging Rikku close to him. The poor girl didn't even realize the truth of it all. He decided that it was only fair that she knew . And so Wakka made it his mission to tell her what Auron would not. He set out to find her.  
It didn't take long to find Rikku. She was skipping along, absentmindedly, like usual.  
"Rikku!" he called, and watched her skip over. He began to feel bad, she seemed really happy today. But then he realized, she was almost always happy.  
"Yes?" Rikku questioned, her hair still slightly swinging from the skip over to him.  
"Rikku, I hate to be the bringer of bad news..." he paused, watching her emerald eyes searching him for the answers to her inquiries, "but you should know this. Auron may be having an affair."  
She stood there in shock for what seamed like ages, before she could stammer, "w-with who?"  
"Lulu" as he said that he watched as the young Al-Bhed's face contorted in a mix of anger, confusion and hurt.  
It soon became apparent that she didn't believe him.  
Slap! Her hand hit him on the face. "That was for even thinking that Auron would cheat on me!"  
Slap! She smacked him again. "That was for Lulu, though I'm sure that she's already done that!"  
Slap! The last hit was the hardest. "And that was both for you thinking that Lulu would cheat on you, and for spreading awful, nasty rumors!" Then Rikku tuned and ran, refusing to allow him see her tear-stained face. She didn't stop until she reached a shadowed corner in the outer temple walls, so she was facing the ocean. Her thoughts kept swirling around in her head. She tried to grasp one to focus on, but they all seemed to slip through her fingers. And no matter how much she fought them, Rikku couldn't stop the sobs from escaping her mouth_. Auron would never do that! Neither would Lulu!_ Rikku tried to reassure herself, but the more she thought, the more correct it sounded. He had recently started taking late night walks, claiming that he needed some alone time to "think", and Rikku hadn't thought much of it, but now she realized that Lulu sometimes walked around the same time, if she hadn't walked in the morning. Also, Auron had been lost in thought recently, and not opening up to her. Had they still been on Yuna's pilgrimage that wouldn't have surprised her, but then again they hadn't been going out then. Since the pilgrimage a few years ago she had loosened him up quite a bit and she now didn't know him to hid things from her.   
By now, the tears had subsided and after a moment of sitting in silence, Rikku decided that it was time to hear the truth from Auron.

There he was, just walking back to his and Rikku's house. Hesitating for a split-second Wakka leaped out of the bushes that he had been sitting in, waiting for over an hour. Colliding with him, Auron lost his balance, but did not fall over like he was supposed to.  
"Wakka, are you ever going to grow up?" Auron asked haughtily.  
"When you stop doing my wife ya!"  
"Lulu!? You think that Lulu and I are having an affair!?" Auron asked, slightly taken aback.  
"Well, yea, I mean, it all adds up, like the fact that you both occasionally take late night walks, on the same date."  
"That is true, but not for the reasons that you're thinking of. Years ago, Lulu came to me with a problem, trusting that I would help her solve it and keep it secret. When it was worked out, she thanked me, telling me that she never really had anyone who she could talk to or ask for help from, with her parents gone and all. I felt bad for her, I knew how it must feel to have nobody to help her through dark times, so I promised her that whenever she needed advice, or just to talk, she could ask me and I would help to my best extent. That is all. Nothing more." Then Auron turned on his heel and sauntered away, leaving Wakka to ponder that little bit of information.  
When Auron returned home he heard noises from another room.  
Good, Rikku's home. He thought, shutting the door behind him. But when she came stalking into the room, he realized that she had not surpassed the rumor of Wakka's and that she had not taken it well. Her eyes were red and puffy, her lips pressed tightly together, forming a thin line.  
"Look, Rikku, love, I realize that you've heard Wakka, and I know that must have hurt, but I love you, and would never harm you. I will tell you exactly what I told Wakka, and then I'll leave it up to you whether you believe me."  
So he repeated his story to Rikku, and when he finished, he looked upon her tear streaked face, searching to her reaction.  
Then the young woman ran to him and embraced him in a tight hug. "Oh Auron, I'm so sorry that I doubted you! And thank you for talking to Lulu, you probably give better than Yuna and I combined."

It was later in the day and Auron and Rikku had stopped by Yuna's place to see her and Lulu. Rikku, Auron, and Lulu were now having a small debate, Yuna wasn't sure what it was quite about, but she did know that it was Lulu arguing against the other two.  
Lulu disagreed with a point that they had brought up, and made that clear by suddenly flaring up momentarily. Everyone was shocked, and Lulu had no idea how she got so set off. Glancing at her face, Yuna saw that she was both confused and worried. Standing up, Lulu apologized and hurried to the bathroom. Moving to take her place Yuna started up the conversation again.  
"She's been in there awhile." Rikku stated, pointing at the still-closed bathroom door.  
Yuna nodded just before a nervous looking Lulu emerged. Quickly composing herself, Lulu took a seat next to Yuna and tried to get into the conversation.   
Catching Lulu's eyes Auron silently asked, "Meet tonight?"  
She slightly nodded her head yes before adding what she had to say to the verbal communication that was still taking place.  
Not long after, Auron and Rikku departed.  
Yuna turned to Lulu after the couple disappeared out the door. "You want to tell me what happened earlier today? Why you just blew-up at them like you did?"  
"I can't talk about it now, but come with me tonight and I'll explain." Lulu replied uncertainly. That was what was hard about living around your friends, your personal life doesn't stay personal long. Lulu wasn't even sure how she got stuck in this mess, It was going to take all her strength and will power to make herself meet Auron on the beach tonight.

By the time it was time to leave for the beach, however, Lulu was very impatient. She couldn't stand keeping it inside, though it really wasn't something that she wanted to deal with right now. Yuna noticed how anxious Lulu was to leave, in her mind Yuna, going as fast as she possibly could, was taking twice as long as it should to get ready. Eventually, after what seemed like ages to Lulu, they were ready to leave. Yuna and Lulu made their way to the beach silently. Yuna couldn't help but notice that Lulu was wringing her pale hands together. In the moonlight that was bathing Besaid Island with soft white light she was so pale, she looked almost like a ghost, and almost as unhappy as one. Her dark purple lips were pulled into a frown.  
They steadily made their way down the rough path to the beach where they found Auron already there, waiting patiently. Yuna sat down next to him, but Lulu remained standing, facing the ocean, watching the waves crash. _Should I tell them now? Admitting it to them would make me realize how real this whole thing is, and that scares me. What am I going to do? What can I do?  
_ But before Lulu could finish her thoughts, Auron spoke. "Lulu, do you want to talk about it, because we're not really getting anywhere like this, come sit down."  
Lulu sighed, but didn't move. Looking over at each other Yuna and Auron stood up almost simultaneously and went to stand of each side of her.   
Finally, she began to murmur, her voice filled with fear. "You both have to promise to me that you'll never tell a soul what I'm about so say, and Yuna, if that's going to become a problem..." Lulu knew that Yuna had a really hard time keeping things from Tidus. "You too, Auron. If you think that you might tell Rikku-"  
Auron cut her off. "You know that I wouldn't tell her unless you told me I could."  
"Auron, I know, but this isn't really something that's really intended to be secret, and it's going to be hard to keep." seeing Yuna's questioning glance, Lulu continued," They will, however, know soon, but not before it's necessary, because, and I'm not trying to be offensive, they have a tendency to share things that the weren't supposed to, and Wakka cannot find out, not yet at least."  
They both stared at her blankly for a moment, trying to figure out what it was that could be as important as she was making it sound. Then Yuna's 'womanly intuition' kicked in and suddenly it all made sense to her. She gasped excitedly, her eyes growing bigger. Lulu flushed, though she hadn't blushed since she was little. Auron, thoroughly confused, just stared at the two women standing in front of him, one who looked about to burst from excitement, and the other, who was blushing so intensely that it was clearly visible in the feeble moonlight, and looking so frightened, like reality had just hit her in the face straight on.  
"Are you!" Yuna asked (thought she already knew the answer, she just wanted it to be said aloud), jumping up and hugging Lulu tightly, squeezing the breath out of her, to excited to finish her sentence.  
Lulu got even redder, if that was at all possible.  
"Would you mind sharing?" Auron disliked asking questions, but he hated being left out and not knowing what was going on even more.  
Lulu took a deep breath before replying. "I'm pregnant."  
Auron was gaping at her, that was obviously not what he had in mind. "Don't you think that Wakka has a right to know that he has a son or daughter, I mean, if Rikku was going to have my child I certainly would want to know."  
"No, Wakka can't know, especially not yet, I mean, I don't even know if I'm going to keep it!" Lulu exclaimed, exasperated.  
"Why wouldn't you keep it?!" Yuna piped up, suddenly in the middle of the argument.  
"Because I don't know if he and I are ever going to get back together, and even if we did, are we really ready for this. If I get an abortion then Wakka doesn't have to know, and if we do get back together, I can just never tell him and we can have another child when we are sure that we can handle it."  
"So how'd it happen?" Yuna interrogated, becoming curious.  
"You know perfectly well how it happened, it's not like I'm going to share details with you!" Lulu exclaimed, somehow blushing even more, remembering back, that night had been quite provocative.  
Yuna winced. "That made me sound really perverted. It came out wrong, I swear. What I meant was when and how'd you find out?"  
"A few days ago, I woke up really earlier, earlier than usual. I was feeling awful, my stomach was really upset. I don't know many times I threw up then. At that point I had just figured that I had caught something. Well, that happened the next morning as well, and I was a little suspicious when I was having no other flu symptoms, and I also realized how much more emotional I had been recently. It makes sense really, why I got so angry with Wakka, and why I was so emotional afterwards, If I calculated it right then he would have impregnated me about a week and a half before the argument. So with my upset stomach and dramatic mood-swings I began to worry, so I took a pregnancy test. And I ended up here."  
Auron, suddenly coming out of his shock seemed really happy for her too. "Congratulations, Lulu. But why didn't you tell us earlier?"  
"I just found out today, while you and Rikku were over at Yuna's." Lulu said almost apologetically. ALMOST. "Besides, you guys are making it sound like this is the best thing in the world, and it's not! I feel like if I tell Wakka before we are together again and then he tried to bring me home I'd think that he believed that he had to because either he thought that the baby should have both a mother and a father, or he felt guilty, and I don't want that. I want to get back together not because we have to, but because we want to. And let's say that we became a couple again before he knew, would we really be ready for a child? That's why it would just be better to get rid of it, I mean, I don't really have much time before I start showing." Lulu began crying, probably from a mixture of stress, insecurity and hormones.  
Yuna gave Lulu another hug, more gently this time. "You two are going to make wonderful parents. And about being ready, you were ready to be a mother before we even left on the Pilgrimage. Now, before you object, let me tell you why. You are an amazing person, you're kind, caring, and you're like a big sister to everyone. Just being around you makes people feel safe. And there's just something about you, it's really hard to explain, but for the longest time I've known that you'd always be ready. As for Wakka, he'll be ready when he needs to be, even if it doesn't seem like it now." She glared at Auron, trying to get him to add on.  
Auron nodded. "It's true, you know, you're going to be an amazing mother, that child is really lucky."  
Lulu's mood swung again, she became her usual solemn self. "Well, what should I do?" She crossed her arms across her chest, one of her more common stances.  
"Firstly, get some sleep, you look awful, and though you're good at concealing it, it's starting to show that you're only getting a few hours of sleep each night. I mean, Tidus has even noticed!" Yuna exclaimed, admitting that at times her husband could be a little slow at noticing details. "Secondly, you are to talk to Wakka and make up. You can't sleep on my couch forever. It's not that comfortable now, but it will be worse when you're farther along, it will be to small and you're back will hurt more than necessary, which is already really painful, or so I've heard." _It's kind of amusing hearing Yuna telling Lulu about pregnancy when she's never had one herself_ Auron thought to himself wondering when jealousy was going to kick in. Everyone knew that Yuna had wanted to be the first of the group to give birth. He suddenly felt bad for Tidus, that was a large responsibility to place on a man. Then Auron began to wonder when Lulu was planning on telling his wife, and how she would react. Rikku once said that she wanted children but that it was he could make the final decision and then shrugged it off, like it really didn't matter, but he figured that finding out about Lulu's pregnancy would rekindle that burning desire for a baby of her own. Auron tried to straighten out his thoughts. Yuna would be jealous firstly because she had wanted to have the first child, and secondly because she and Tidus had been trying for who knows how long to get pregnant, where as Lulu could without even trying. Vowing to someday give Rikku that which she so greatly wanted, Auron drifted back to reality.  
Yuna had apparently just finished giving the black mage pregnancy advice and was continuing on with number three of the earlier advice. "Thirdly, you should talk to Wakka about your child, which you'd better keep! I think that's all..." Yuna nodded decisively.

On the way back into the village, Auron and Yuna were immersed in conversation while Lulu walked slightly ahead of them. By the time the two of them arrived at Yuna's house, Lulu was already in the bathroom, the sound of her vomiting was clearly heard, and both their stomachs knotted. Emerging, Lulu immediately grabbed a small glass and headed to the sink, filling it with cold water. She drained half the cup in one swallow, trying to remove the vial taste in her mouth.  
"You going to be ok Lulu?" Yuna asked, voiced filled with worry.  
Lulu wrinkled her nose in disgust before smiling at the younger woman standing in front of her. "Yea, I'll be alright, don't worry about me."  
"You know I still will." Though many years had passed and Yuna had changed quite a bit, she still apologized often (too often, according to Lulu, who wasn't known to apologize unless she felt it was very important) and she still worried too much (again, this was stated by Lulu, but everyone else agreed with her on this).  
Auron soon left for home, passing Tidus as he entered his house.

_ It's a good thing that Tidus is such a deep sleeper_. Yuna thought as she laid next to him, hearing Lulu throwing up for the fourth or fifth time that night, not including the time when they had returned from the beach. _Her morning sickness is really bad tonight, if Tidus woke up, there would be no way to keep Lulu's secret from him_. Deciding that she was never going to get to sleep anyway, Yuna carefully got out of bed and pulled a robe over her thin nightgown. When she entered the living room, she found Lulu sitting cross-legged on the couch, clutching her stomach. Yuna sat down beside her. They stayed there in silence, there's not a whole lot you can say at two in the morning to someone who's been up all night puking every forty minutes or so. Lulu was just glad of Yuna's company, not many people would be so understanding if you had kept them wake when you were retching up the entire contents of your stomach all night. Yuna took one of Lulu's hands in hers, trying to let her know that she would always be there if Lulu ever needed anything. They didn't move for a few minutes, but then Lulu's nausea returned and she had go back into the bathroom. Yuna quickly followed her and followed her in. When Lulu bent over the toilet Yuna gathered up the long, black braids that threatened to fall into Lulu's face. Lulu didn't have much left in her stomach, and she felt her throat burning from a strong amount of acid. Finally she finished and went back to the couch. Yuna headed to the kitchen and got her a glass of water. Lulu took it gratefully and then, setting the empty glass on the small table beside her makeshift bed, she laid her head on the pillow supported by the sofa arm. Pulling her legs up to her chest, she began drifting off. After a little while she had slipped into an unknowing sleep. Getting up, Yuna covered her close friend with a light blanket before returning to Tidus in bed. He was still sleeping, oblivious that she had ever left.  
_Of course_. She thought to herself before climbing into the bed next to her husband. Laying on her back, she strayed into a deep sleep, just as the black mage had just a minute ago.

Tidus stared first at Lulu, still deeply sleeping, then at Yuna, and back to Lulu. "Bet she's always the first one up...well, other than Auron, but still! It's almost 10:30!"  
"She was up late last night, so don't wake her up love." Tidus shot Yuna a questioning glance. Thinking quickly, she replied, "She's still upset about Wakka, not that I can blame her."  
"Oh...ok!" Tidus said, believing every word she voiced. Yuna loathed lying through her teeth, especially to him, but she drowned in guilt if she let Lulu's secret slip. Tidus retrieved the rest of his breakfast, and shoving it all in his mouth, said goodbye to Yuna and ran out the door.  
Yuna was sitting at the table, sipping her now luke-warm tea when Lulu woke up. "Ungg." she grumbled, rubbing the shadows of sleep away from her ruby-tinted eyes. "What time is it?" she questioned, and yawned.  
"Around eleven." Yuna replied simply, her eyes, one blue, the other green, stared over the rim of her cup, sparkling with laughter.  
Lulu sat up rapidly. "You should have woken me up!'  
"You were up extremely late last night, I felt it was better if you slept."  
"You were up then too, yet you got up earlier!" She exclaimed accusingly.  
"But, unlike you, I've slept relatively well this past week, and I'm not pregnant, you really do need your strength."  
Lulu rolled her eyes, and, getting up, took a sip of tea.  
"I'll make you some, if you want." Yuna offered.  
"Thanks, but I think I shall take a small stroll around the village, but maybe later." She strode purposely out the door.  
Outside, Lulu felt the light wind tugging at her long hair. She began to walk but soon found the edge of her vision blurring. Next her eyes couldn't focus on anything at all. Lulu stumbled over a rock and fell. Suddenly she was in someone's strong, muscular arms, but before she could identify her savior she lost all hold on conciseness and slipped into a dark nothingness. 

Wakka stepped out the door and stretched. He was about to begin on his way to the market when something caught his eyes in the other direction. Turning around, he saw Lulu plummeting towards the ground. Running as fast as his legs could carry him, he ran and caught her, just barely in time. Laying her gently on the ground he saw Yuna approaching.  
"Wakka! What happened?" Rikku exclaimed as she skidded to a halt, out of breath from running down the hill to Lulu's side.  
"She just...fell." It was obvious that he was pretty bewildered.  
"Rikku, you and I will carry her inside, Wakka, go fetch a doctor." Wakka seemed reluctant to leave her side, but realized that it would help her a lot more to have a doctor.  
When he came with Lulu's physician, Rikku and Yuna had managed to move her onto the couch that Lulu had recently been using as a bed.  
They all were in the room with her. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave, I'm sorry." he said.  
Rikku, Wakka, and Yuna exited the room, but not before Yuna whispered in the doctor's ear. "She's pregnant, and doesn't want them to know yet." Then she hurried after the others.  
After ten minutes of standing in the scorching sun, he finally came out to them, addressing them all separately. "Sir Wakka, Lady Rikku, High summoner Yuna, she'll be fine, it was just from stress and low blood sugar. Just keep the ice pack on her forehead at least until she wakes up, if not longer, but knowing Lulu..."  
They all sighed, well Wakka and Rikku did. "Can I talk to you, over here?" Yuna asked him.  
When they reached where Yuna had indicated he questioned. "Yes, High Summoner?"  
"Just call me Yuna. But that's not what I wanted to say. What really was it caused by?"  
"Well, like I said, stress and her blood sugar, but it was also her pregnancy. Don't worry, it's going fine, but it was a mix of many things. Make her eat more, even if you have to shove it down her throat." He quickly added, seeing the worried look on Yuna's face.  
"Thanks, if you wish, you may go."  
Returning back to the group, Rikku was very suspicious. "What was that all about?"  
"Oh, I haven't been sleeping well lately, and I was wondering what I should do."

Lulu woke up, her head threatening to explode. When she went to remove the ice pack and get up, Yuna spoke. "Keep that on and lay back down. Lulu, you were very lucky back there." Lulu laid back down and placed the cold ice pack back on her partially numb forehead.  
"Hmm..."  
"Lulu, it could have been serious! If Wakka want there to save you, you could have been extremely hurt! You or your baby! You should go make up with him. He is really worried about you. He still loves you dearly."  
She glanced at Yuna worriedly, who shook her head.  
"He doesn't know, but he will soon. I know that you tried to tighten your dress a little this morning to hide it, but look at yourself Lulu, your efforts were in vain, it's still visible. Your stomach's no longer flat."  
It was true; looking down Lulu saw that her abdomen was slightly swollen. She sighed, at that moment hating her tightly clinging dress. "Of course you're right."  
"Of course!" Yuna smiled. So did Lulu.

"RIKKU!" Lulu called, cupping her hands around her mouth.  
"Lulu, you alright?" She asked, running up.  
'Yea, I'll be alright. But I need to tell you something." Rikku tilted her head questionably. "Rikku, I'm carrying Wakka's child." she said simply, holding her breath.   
"YOU'RE PREGNANT!" Rikku shrieked excitedly. She began jumping up and down. pulling her feet up to her hips every time she left the ground. Then she jumped into Lulu's arms, giving her a tight hug, before she began skipping around her.   
"Rikku, you'd better not tell." Lulu stated firmly.  
"Who doesn't know?!" Rikku asked, bursting to talk to somebody about it.  
"Wakka."  
"OK!" Rikku pranced of, probably to go talk to Yuna.

Stars sprinkled the midnight sky. What little light was left hung low, casting strange shapes across the ground. Only one restless soul wandered through the houses of the peaceful village. Her ebony dress and hair melded into the darkness, threatening to swallow her up whole as she silently made her way between the small houses that made up Besaid. She was headed for the ocean's sandy edge, the sound of crashing waved had always been comforting to her. Upon her arrival, she sat down on the sand, still slightly warm from when Besaid Island had been kissed with warmth by the sun's golden light. She sat alone, listening to the swelling of the ocean before her. From the shadows surrounding, another sound reached her ears. _Footsteps?  
Definitely footsteps, and a man's. The feet approaching are wearing flat shoes, rather than high heels or boots. Also, the footsteps are to heavy for a woman_. No, she thought, _I'm certain it's a male, who's wearing sandals. Wakka_. Not knowing where that idea came from, she quickly scolded herself_. It could be anyone, why would you assume that Wakka's the only one who would follow you at this time of night! For all you know it's Auron. _ The footsteps stopped beside her. Turning her head, all she could see was sandaled feet and Wakka's golden pants, glowing in the feeble light.  
"Wakka...you shouldn't have." she whispered softly.  
"Lu," he said, sitting beside her, "I miss you. I love you. Every moment away from you pains me. Lu, won't you come home?"  
"Wakka..." She said again.  
Then he leaned in and fervently kissed her. For a moment she didn't respond, and Wakka was about to pull away when she wrapped one of her arms around his neck, then the other around his waist, and returned his action lustily. He embraced her in his powerful arms, pressing her close. They felt their breath quicken. Breaking apart, they glanced at each other. Then, Wakka stood up, and taking Lulu's extremities, he pulled her up next to him. Still hand in hand they ran back to the village.

The early morning sun filled the room with luminescence. Lulu opened her eyes slightly so they formed small slits. Her head was laid on Wakka's bare chest and his arm was around her, holding her unclothed body against him. She kissed him lightly and felt him stir. Then his brilliant mahogany eyes stared upon her, soaking in her ravishing beauty.  
"Good morning, love." She said, her voice entrancing him.   
Their lips brushed, but she soon pushed him away.  
"Wakka, there's something you should know."  
"Shhh..." He breathed, and tried to attain her lips again, but she turned her head so they were out of his reach.  
"Wakka, this is important," she laid her head back on his upper-torso, then sighed. "Wakka, you're going to be a father."  
Lulu felt his body tense under her own. Then she heard him softy call her name. "Lulu..." Then she became nervous, he never called her Lulu, it was always Lu. Though she knew he wanted her to, she didn't turn to face him. "Lulu, look at me." She moved so that their eyes met. "How far are you?" Wakka questioned her, no emotion in his voice.  
"Two weeks." Lulu replied uncertainly.  
"Are you sure?" He was being cautious, trying not to be overly excited.  
She nodded her head slowly. Then he kissed her once more, trying to put all of his joy into that small gesture.

Besaid Weekly ( September 9)  
_Birth Announcements_  
Yesterday a baby boy was born to Lady Lulu and Sir Wakka. They have decided to name him Vidina, the Al Bhed word for 'future'.


End file.
